A Proposal for Sustainable Community Development through a Culinary Trail

Abstract

This research is focused on design a proposal to develop Sri Lankan community through sustainable tourism approach. Sustainability concept appeals to the development of Sri Lankan economy with the millennium development goals of United Nations. The culture is the prominent factors which can be developed as tourist attraction. In addition, Culinary is a part of the culture of any society. As it is consisted of food preparation techniques, methods, different ingredients, tastes and presenting styles it usually capture the attention of tourists. Since Sri Lanka has diverse sub cultures there is a high diversity of cuisine. The variation in Sri Lankan cuisines have been influenced by geographic and demographic diversity. Taking this factor into account the development of new tourism product which named Sri Lankan Culinary Trail has proposed by the research. This product is based on traditional cuisines and the service providers of this tourism segment are the local community whose benefit is focused on this research. This is an exploratory research which based on primary data collection method where a questionnaire survey carried out for market analysis. The respondents were local people who selected randomly based on Negombo coastal belt. The product will be a prototype implementation plan which can be developed up to national level.